May 03, 2017

Bret Stephens Is Wrong On Climate, And Canceling Subscriptions is the Wrong Response

Bret Stephens, newly minted conservative columnist for the Times, provoked fury with his very first column last Friday.

By pointing out that we can know few things with certainty, he casts doubt on the notion that human activity is warming the planet in a dangerous and scary way. While scientists may disagree around the edges of these issue, the fact and severity of global warming is clear to all but a few skeptics. Stephens is attempting to cast doubt where there isn't much, by employing the straw man argument that because we don't know everything about climate change we shouldn't do anything.